Silent Wing stood in front of the cottage, her back arched and her fangs peeking ever so slightly out from under her lips. Her eyes where narrowed and she made sure her head was tilted at just the right angle so that the moonlight hid her yellow eyes in a hint of shadow, making them appear to be two glowing lights in her face. She had her ear pushed back against her helmet and kept her wings out and flat, ready to take to the air at moments notice. She knew that the other five bat ponies of Luna’s Royal guard were in similar positions, ready to fight on their Princess’ behalf.
The problem was, they had no idea what they were preparing to fight. Luna had summoned them to this small cottage and told them to wait outside until she arrived.
Silent Wing, Fade Eyes, Glimmer, Starfall, Ice Tail, and her sister Comet Tail had all arrived quickly and quietly, and were now hiding under the small bridge in front of the cottage, waiting for…whatever it was they were waiting for.
“Captain, do you know what’s going on?” Glimmer asked.
“I don't. But you know the Princess’ orders.” Silent Wing replied.
“She’s coming,” Starfall said. Silent Wing didn’t doubt him—he had the best hearing she had ever seen—but she closed her eyes and focused. Sure enough, she could barely hear the sound of flapping wings. Judging by the noise, they were bigger than a normal pegasus, but not as big as Princess Celestia. That left only one pony.
“Royal Guard, art thee here?” came Luna’s voice from above the bridge. At once, the five bat ponies flew out and landed in front of Luna as one.
“We are, Your Highness,” Silent Wing said as she and the others bowed.
“Excellent. I have received some…disturbing reports in regards to this home. While I do not believe the pony within to be dangerous, I ask that you all be ready.”
The five ponies nodded and Luna turned to the door. She raised her hoof and knocked once. “Dear friend Fluttershy, it is I, Princess Luna. I would like a word with thee.”
There was no answer, but Silent Wing wasn’t surprised by that. She was surprised by the fact that they were visiting Fluttershy as a source of a possible threat. From everything Silent Wing had heard about the pegasus, she wouldn’t hurt a fly. Literally.
The door opened slowly, but no pony came out. Instead, a small rabbit poked its head out and looked up at Luna.
“Ah. Angel. A pleasure to see thee again,” Luna said. She bowed her head until her chin was nearly touching the dirt. “Pray tell, has thou met Tiberius?” The little opossum poked its head out from Luna’s mane and waved at the bunny. Angel nodded.
“Angel, we seek thy owner. Would thee retrieve her for us?”
Angel raised his paw to point at something. Silent Wing followed the rabbit’s paw. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open when she saw what the bunny was pointing to.
“U-up h-here, um…Your Majesty.” Fluttershy was hanging from a branch in the nearby tree. Upside down. Like a…
“Like a bat pony,” Icy Tail whispered.
“Fluttershy, we ask that thou cometh down,” Luna said, her voice kind but firm.
“Um…okay.” The yellow pegasus undid her pink tail and slowly floated to the ground in front of Luna and the others. She looked at them once, then lowered her head so that her mane hid her eyes.
“Why were thou up in a tree, dear Fluttershy?” Luna asked.
“I…I was scared,” she said in a small voice. “They…they showed up so suddenly and I didn’t know what to do, so I…I hid.”
“She saw us?” Fade Eyes whispered.
“That’s…impossible,” Comet Tail added.
“Dear Fluttershy, you must tell us, what has happened to thee,” Luna said, gently putting her hoof on the pegasus' head.
“Well, um, you see. I…I was recently turned into…um, a…a bat,” Fluttershy said. “B-But, I’m all better now! Please don’t take me away. I mean, sure I still have these little fangs, and I can see a lot better at night now, but I’m not any different. Please please please don’t lock me in a dungeon.”
“I see.” Luna took her hoof off Fluttershy’s head and turned toward her guards. “Be ready.”
Silent Wing nodded, but she wasn’t sure what she was readying for. Surely they weren’t about to take Fluttershy away? Silent Wing wanted to ask her a lot of questions for certain, but she hadn’t done anything wrong. Still, if Luna gave the command, Silent Wing and the others would follow it.
“Discord! Show thyself!” Luna’s voice boomed. “NOW!”
There was a flash of light and the draconequus was standing in front of them all. He had a top hat on his head and a chessboard floating in front of him, the pieces dancing in some strange version of the game.
“This had better be important, Twilight Sparkle. I was just about to—oh. It’s you, Your Majesty. To what do I owe the honor?”
Luna fired a blast of energy that slammed into Discord. He cried out and fell to the ground, smoke rising from a hole in his chest.
Silent Wing and the others stared. Had Princess Luna really just…?
“Get up, Discord,” Luna said. “Stop playing opossum.”
“That’s funny, coming from you,” the beast said. “See, this is playing opossum.” Discord was suddenly small and hanging upside down from Luna’s horn. “Good evening, Sir Tibbles. I must say, you’ve chosen an excellent bed. Maybe I should move in here too.”
“Enough!” Luna stomped her hoof and Discord was back to his normal size. “Why did thou change Fluttershy into a bat? The last time you meddled with ponies on this level, our sister and us banished you. Explain thyself!”
“Um…excuse me.”
“Fluttershy? Bat? Me?” Discord said. “What happened to Fluttershy? Is she all right?” Discord was suddenly wearing a full suit of armor. “Who hurt her? They’ll regret it.”
“No pony hurt me, I just—”
“Do not play games with us,” Luna said darkly. “Thou shalt change her back NOW!”
“No, um, Discord didn’t…”
“Fluttershy, there you are!” Discord teleport and scooped the yellow pegasus up in a big hug. “Oh my. You do have quite the fangs there, my dear,” he said as he pulled her lip up and stuck his head in her mouth.
“Change her back, or my guards and I will arrest you!”
“Hm, sorry, can’t.” Discord dropped Fluttershy instantly and she almost crashed to the ground. “Okay, well I could, but I like her better this way. Cuter.”
“Silent Wing! Seize him!”
Silent Wing and the others spread their wings and made ready to attack.
“Ah, now these ponies are my handiwork. Nice to see my legacy has lasted so long,” the draconequus said as he patted Silent Wing on the head. How had he managed to get so close so quickly? Stupid chaos magic.
“STOP!” Everyone froze and turned toward Fluttershy. She was breathing heavily. Her eyes had a reddish tint, the tips of her wings were pointier, and her ears were slightly longer. She had her lips curled back in a snarl and sure enough, she had a small pair of fangs.
“Discord didn’t do anything,” Fluttershy said, her breathing slowing and her features returning to that of a pegasus.
“Told you so,” Discord said, suddenly behind Fluttershy and peeking out from behind her back. “You’re all always so quick to judge.”
“But if Discord did not turn thee into a bat, then who did?” Luna asked. Silent Wing had to admit that she was curious as well.
“Well, um, Twilight Sparkle used a spell on some fruit bats and, um, let’s just say that things didn’t work out completely as she intended.”
“Hm, I see,” Luna said, scratching her chin with her hoof. “And thou art…fine then?”
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy said with a smile.
“And Discord truly had nothing to do with any of this?”
“Why I would never,” Discord said, crossing his heart.
“Very well. We bid thee good evening, dear Fluttershy.” Luna nodded to Discord. “And thee as well, Discord. We…apologize for our rush to judgment.” Without another word, Luna took to the sky. Silent Wing and the others took one last look at Fluttershy and Discord, and then followed.
Silent Wing had always thought magic was weird. First a giant marshmallow pony, and now this. She was grateful that she couldn’t use the stuff, because she didn’t want to deal with the headaches it constantly seemed to bring.
Author's Note
Ha! Exactly at 1500 words. Yes! Seriously though, these word limit things kill me. I had a bit more dialogue between Silent Wing (yes, Silent Wing has returned yet again!) and the other bat ponies, along with some more humor with Discord. Ended up being about three hundred words too long, so I had to do some editing.
(Fun fact: adding the italics and font change sizes apparently counts as words too, so I had to do more editing. Ugh)
Anyway, EQD did that drawing thing, and I thought that was fun, but I cannot draw (why do you think all my cover arts are pictures?). So when they said they were doing this writing thing, I said I could do that. Not sure how I feel about the short time limit, but what can you do? Forces you to think stuff up fast, and I like to think I can do that.
For those wondering why Luna thought Discord was behind this, it's because in my mind, Discord created the bat ponies. Go read my other story, Establishing Luna's Royal Guard, to find out more. Or you can just ask in the comments. Do leave comments. I like reading them, and I respond to all of them. As long as, you know, they're nice. :-)
